Rethink Robotics Returns
Collaborative robots, or cobots, bring significant advantages to modern workplaces by enhancing productivity, flexibility, and safety. Designed to work alongside human operators, cobots handle repetitive and precision tasks, allowing employees to focus on more complex or creative work.
Their ease of programming and adaptability make cobots ideal for a wide range of industries, from manufacturing to logistics, and they can be swiftly reconfigured for new tasks as demands change. Built with advanced safety features, cobots are designed to reduce workplace injuries and foster a safer environment. Their cost-effectiveness and quick deployment make robotic automation accessible to companies of all sizes, boosting efficiency and scalability.
An industry darling when it was founded in 2008, Rethink Robotics offered the iconic Baxter and Sawyer cobots that featured eyes on a screen to alert human users to where their arms were headed. Despite press attention, the company shut down operations in 2018 and sold off its intellectual property assets. Recently, the company (or at least its brand) reappeared and introduced a new line of cobots at IMTS, The International Manufacturing Technology Show, in September 2024.
The Reacher collaborative robot is one of three models on offer from Rethink.
The Rethink Reacher line includes seven new cobot models handling payloads as heavy as 65 pounds. The company claimed that in addition to an improved design over previous models, their hardware delivers increased precision, speed, and durability, enhancing their capabilities for industrial use, supported by an IP65 rating for use in wet and dusty environments.
As Julia Astrid Riemenschneider, vice president of business development for Rethink Robotics in Boston, Mass., explained, Reacher is one of three new models on offer.
"While Baxter and Sawyer helped blaze the trail for user-friendly collaborative robots, they weren’t well suited for heavy payloads, high precision industrial applications in manufacturing facilities," Riemenschneider said. "Conversely, today’s Rethink Robotics product line (Reacher, Ryder, and Riser) has been significantly upgraded with improved design and reliable hardware, resulting in increased precision, speed, and reliability. This makes these cobots far more capable for today’s industrial applications."
The global market for cobots is expanding at an even faster rate. Grand View Research valued this market at $1.23 billion in 2022 and anticipates a robust CAGR of 32.0 percent from 2023 to 2030. This rapid growth is largely due to the increasing adoption of cobots by small and medium-sized enterprises, which benefit from the flexibility, safety, and cost-effectiveness that collaborative robots provide.
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Many users are attracted to the versatility of cobots. For example, cobots can efficiently load, unload, and move materials, making them valuable in manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics settings. They are commonly used for assembling components, such as fastening screws, inserting parts, and assembling electronics. Cobots can tend to CNC machines, injection molders, or other manufacturing equipment by loading and unloading parts, increasing productivity and reducing downtime.
In addition, cobots with integrated cameras and sensors can conduct quality checks, measuring dimensions, inspecting for defects, and ensuring product consistency. They also handle tasks that require consistency and precision, such as spray painting and polishing, delivering a smooth, uniform finish.
More on this topic: New Approach May Make More Reliable and Safe Robots
"Rethink Robotics is leveraging this increase in collaborative robot growth, offering a wide range of cobots in payloads that will work for a variety of industrial applications, from machine tending and pick-and-place to assembly and palletizing," Riemenschneider said. "The redesigned Reacher cobot line can handle payloads ranging between 15 and 66 pounds, so they can manage any number of industrial tasks.”
She added, “The robots are also IP65 rated for protection from water, dust, and other harsh elements.” IP65 is an international standard that indicates that an electrical enclosure is dust tight and watertight against light pressure water spray.
The new product lines include Reacher, an industrial arm with a reach of around four feet, Ryder, an autonomous mobile platform that can be configured to transport payloads of more than one ton, and Riser, which combines the cobot and the mobile platform to give the robotic arm the ability to move about a factory floor or warehouse.
Jim Romeo is a technology writer in Chesapeake, Va.
Their ease of programming and adaptability make cobots ideal for a wide range of industries, from manufacturing to logistics, and they can be swiftly reconfigured for new tasks as demands change. Built with advanced safety features, cobots are designed to reduce workplace injuries and foster a safer environment. Their cost-effectiveness and quick deployment make robotic automation accessible to companies of all sizes, boosting efficiency and scalability.
An industry darling when it was founded in 2008, Rethink Robotics offered the iconic Baxter and Sawyer cobots that featured eyes on a screen to alert human users to where their arms were headed. Despite press attention, the company shut down operations in 2018 and sold off its intellectual property assets. Recently, the company (or at least its brand) reappeared and introduced a new line of cobots at IMTS, The International Manufacturing Technology Show, in September 2024.
The Reacher collaborative robot is one of three models on offer from Rethink.
As Julia Astrid Riemenschneider, vice president of business development for Rethink Robotics in Boston, Mass., explained, Reacher is one of three new models on offer.
"While Baxter and Sawyer helped blaze the trail for user-friendly collaborative robots, they weren’t well suited for heavy payloads, high precision industrial applications in manufacturing facilities," Riemenschneider said. "Conversely, today’s Rethink Robotics product line (Reacher, Ryder, and Riser) has been significantly upgraded with improved design and reliable hardware, resulting in increased precision, speed, and reliability. This makes these cobots far more capable for today’s industrial applications."
Growth market for robots
Riemenschneider pointed to a steady, decades-long growth in the industrial robotics market, with ongoing demand across various sectors. According to data she cited from Grand View Research, the U.S. industrial robotics market was valued at $2.17 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.4 percent from 2024 to 2030.The global market for cobots is expanding at an even faster rate. Grand View Research valued this market at $1.23 billion in 2022 and anticipates a robust CAGR of 32.0 percent from 2023 to 2030. This rapid growth is largely due to the increasing adoption of cobots by small and medium-sized enterprises, which benefit from the flexibility, safety, and cost-effectiveness that collaborative robots provide.
Renew Your ASME Membership Today
Many users are attracted to the versatility of cobots. For example, cobots can efficiently load, unload, and move materials, making them valuable in manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics settings. They are commonly used for assembling components, such as fastening screws, inserting parts, and assembling electronics. Cobots can tend to CNC machines, injection molders, or other manufacturing equipment by loading and unloading parts, increasing productivity and reducing downtime.
In addition, cobots with integrated cameras and sensors can conduct quality checks, measuring dimensions, inspecting for defects, and ensuring product consistency. They also handle tasks that require consistency and precision, such as spray painting and polishing, delivering a smooth, uniform finish.
More on this topic: New Approach May Make More Reliable and Safe Robots
"Rethink Robotics is leveraging this increase in collaborative robot growth, offering a wide range of cobots in payloads that will work for a variety of industrial applications, from machine tending and pick-and-place to assembly and palletizing," Riemenschneider said. "The redesigned Reacher cobot line can handle payloads ranging between 15 and 66 pounds, so they can manage any number of industrial tasks.”
She added, “The robots are also IP65 rated for protection from water, dust, and other harsh elements.” IP65 is an international standard that indicates that an electrical enclosure is dust tight and watertight against light pressure water spray.
The new product lines include Reacher, an industrial arm with a reach of around four feet, Ryder, an autonomous mobile platform that can be configured to transport payloads of more than one ton, and Riser, which combines the cobot and the mobile platform to give the robotic arm the ability to move about a factory floor or warehouse.
Jim Romeo is a technology writer in Chesapeake, Va.
The use of robotics in industrial settings continues to accelerate at a rapid pace. Explore this collection to learn more about automation, cobots, AI-enabled robots, customized robots, and drones.